Thresholds Conference
What Matters Most at End of Life: A Roadmap for Peace, Preparedness, and Emotional Clarity
Keynote Speakers: Ellen Goodman and Joe Primo
Save the Date
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
In-Person & Virtual
Hannaford Hall, USM Portland Campus
Registration
The Thresholds Conference is an annual event, hosted by Hospice of Southern Maine, that unites families, friends, healthcare professionals, and caregivers in meaningful conversations about end-of-life care.
This year’s conference is designed to educate attendees on what to expect at the end of life and how to navigate the dying process and grief. We hope it will provide a roadmap to guide you through the emotional complexities and the practical decisions that arise during this challenging time. As life nears its final chapter, the questions we face can be overwhelming. This conference will offer insight into the steps that bring peace of mind, both for those who are facing it and those who support them.
Keynote Speakers
Ellen Goodman has been hailed as an American original. As a trailblazer and powerful voice for women, she has spent most of her life chronicling social change and its impact on American life. A Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, she was one of the first women to open up the op-ed pages to women’s voices and became, according to Media Watch, the most widely syndicated progressive columnist in the country.
Ellen began her career as a researcher for Newsweek magazine in the days when only men wrote for the newsweekly. After two years, she became a reporter for the Detroit Free Press and then The Boston Globe where she began writing her column. The column was syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group. She wrote her twice-weekly column until 2010 appearing in over 400 newspapers.
Ellen Goodman
In 2010, Ellen co-founded The Conversation Project, a public engagement campaign and a movement, that works to change the way people talk about, and prepare for their end-of-life care. As a social entrepreneur she was also awarded as an Ashoka Fellow and a Prime Mover for her work solving social problems.
Ellen also serves on the board of Encore.org, a movement to transform the narrative around aging and encourage elders to use their passions, skills and decades of experience to make a difference in our communities and the world.
A cum laude graduate of Radcliffe College, Goodman returned to Harvard as a Nieman Fellow, where she studied the dynamics of social change, and again as a Shorenstein Fellow.
Ellen has a daughter, stepdaughter, two grandchildren and lives with her husband, Robert Levey in Boston.
Joe Primo is the author of What Do We Tell the Children?: Talking to Kids About Death and Dying. He began his work as a Chaplain at The Connecticut Hospice, where he supported dozens of children and teens as they said goodbye to a loved one. This experience made him passionate about creating supportive and safe places of belonging for grieving families, which led him to design and build programs at Good Grief, where he also served as CEO for ten years. Leading the largest children’s bereavement program on the East Coast, Joe partnered with more than 250 schools to implement Social Emotional Learning and expanded Good Grief to 4 campuses during his tenure.
Joe has served as the President of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief, and he is on the advisory board for Option B.
Joe Primo
As a prominent advocate for grieving families, Joe designed educational programs and resources for funeral professionals to empower children and teens in end-of-life rituals while he was the National Spokesperson for the Funeral Service Foundation.
In his current role as CEO of Grateful Living, Joe leads a global organization that supports more than 1.5MM people each year in learning how to practice living gratefully to discover meaning in times of uncertainty and ease. Joe has written more than 30 articles on “The Grateful Life,” and taught courses on grief and hope, where he interviewed renowned voices in each. His TED Talk, Grief is Good is just one example of where he believes culture needs to change.
Schedule
8:00am: Registration Opens
9:00am: Daryl Cady - Welcome Remarks
9:05am: Ellen Goodman - Keynote and Q&A
10:15am: Stretch and Bathroom Break
10:25am: Breakout Rooms and Q&A
11:45am: Lunch Break and Book Sale
12:45pm: Joe Primo - Keynote and Q&A
1:55pm: Closing Remarks
Certification of Attendance
Attendees who participate in the full conference will earn 3.5 contact hours. Certificates of Attendance will be available to pick up at the event and to download. Social Worker CEUs will be available for qualifying attendees. See below for more information.
Social Workers Continuing Education Credits
Joint Accreditation Statement
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Amedco LLC and Hospice of Southern Maine (HSM). Amedco LLC is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. Amedco Joint Accreditation #4008163.
Professions in scope for this activity are listed below.
Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Amedco is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Amedco maintains responsibility for this course. ASWB Learner Level: Intermediate. Social Workers completing this course receive 3.50 GENERAL continuing education credits.
The following state boards accept courses offering ASWB ACE credit for Social Workers: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OH, OK*, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, WV*, WY
OK: Accepts ASWB ACE for live, in-person activities but not for ethics and/or online courses.
WV: Accepts ASWB ACE unless activity is held live in West Virginia.
The following state boards accept courses offering ASWB ACE credit for Counselors: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MO, ND, NE, NM, NH, NV, OK*, OR, PA, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WY
MI: No CE requirement for licensed counselors.
The following state boards accept courses offering ASWB ACE credit for MFTs: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IA, ID, IN, KS, MD, ME, MO, NC, NE, NH, NM, NV, OK*, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WY
AL MFTs: Credits authorized by NBCC or any other state licensing agency will be accepted.
MA MFTs: Participants can self-submit courses not approved by the MAMFT board for review.
MI: No CE requirement for licensed MFTs.
The following state boards accept ASWB ACE credit for Addictions Professionals: AK, CA, CO, CT, GA, IA, IN, KS, LA, MO, MT, ND, NM, NV, OK, OR, SC, WA, WI, WV, WY
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes, attendees who participate in the full conference will earn 3.5 contact hours. Certificates of Attendance will be available to pick up at the event and to download after the conference. Social Worker CEUs will be available for qualifying attendees. Please make sure to select the CEU option when registering. To learn more, click here.
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Please park in the Abromson Center parking garage. USM has updated their parking policy. If you're experiencing difficulty there will be an HSM volunteer in the garage as well as a parking attendant to assist. Scan the QR code and use this promo code THRESHOLD25 to ensure you're not charged.
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We're always looking for volunteers to help out with this event! Click here for information on volunteering.
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Please call (207) 289-3643 or email give@hospiceofsouthernmaine.org if you have any additional questions.
Thank You to Our 2025 Sponsors
The Thresholds Conference would not be possible without the generous support of these local businesses and organizations. If you would like to join them in sponsoring our Thresholds 2025, please click our sponsorship links or call 207-289-3628.
